What's in a Label? All Natural vs. Organic

All Natural!
I see this on food packaging all the time, and I must admit I have some questions. Yes, I want my food to be made from natural rather than manufactured ingredients; however, horse poop is natural, and it is certainly something I'd rather NOT have in my morning cereal.

Here's What I Found.
Organic refers to how a plant is grown or the manner in which an animal is raised; all natural refers to how that plant or animal is then processed into food for human consumption. Though a food may be organic, it may be processed "unnaturally" with the addition of unnatural preservatives or artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, etc; in addition, a food labeled all natural may be composed of apples that were chemically fertilized or wheat that was treated with a chemical pesticide, a chicken that has been treated with hormones or antibiotics, etc. Food companies do not have to list these potential contaminents.

As of now, the USDA does not regulate manufacterers' use of the term all natural as strictly and as clearly as they do the use of the term organic. Organic foods must go through a very rigorous evaluation process to earn the organic seal. You can read all about that by perusing these brief PDFs from the USDA:

• Organic Labeling and Marketing Information
• Organic Production and Handling Standards

You can also go the the USDA website for the National Organic Project: The Holy Grail for information on our country's organic program. Beware--You can find TOO much information there!

This helpful article on The Mayo Clinic's website does a good job of condensing the information from the above sources to discuss the differences between the labeling of organic foods. If you don't visit any of the other links, visit this one. Since many farms are in transition from "conventional" farming (such an unfortunate, ironic term) to organic, often foods are made with a percentage of organic ingredients. The article is also a pretty good place to start if you're asking the question "Should I buy organic?" It addresses the key differences between organic and conventional farming.

The Bottom Line
After reviewing all this information, I think that the key to making healthy choices for my family is to actually make the decisions myself rather than trust product packaging. I still have to read labels--and then read between the lines. One of my personal rules of thumb is something I've gleaned so far from my reading of Food Matters by Mark Bittman*: Eat real food. If an ingredients list contains items that I don't immediately identify, I'm going to be extremely hesitant about feeding it to my family.

A Few Recipes to Try
We were adventurous eaters this past week! The following recipes were approved by a two-thirds majority of our family (L is still pretty hard to please).

• I never knew I liked broiled eggplant, but these Eggplant & Goat Cheese Sandwiches enlightened me. Tip--Be sure to totally blacken the bell pepper; it's much easier to peel that way. I made no changes to this recipe and we loved it. In fact, we were both almost done before I realized I didn't get a pic of them. They were gorgeous, I assure you. :)
• I think the above sandwiches would have gone GREAT with these French Onion Tartlets served by Michael's sister Amy during our first visit to her very own apartment. They were delicious! A tip from Amy--use a big skillet! That's a lot of onion.
• This Shiitake Mushroom & Sweet Pea Risotto was tasty but so rich I probably won't include it in our regular rotation. It was a nice treat. Instead of chicken broth, I used Edward & Sons Not Chick'n Bouillon Cubes (I found them at Whole Foods), which tasted remarkably like the real thing--and had a very short list of ingredients.

My Dad has been on me about only posting once per week. LOL. Perhaps this week I'll try a double feature. I think next up will be a distinct shift in gears for this blog: A discussion about caring for the fatherless (another topic weighing heavily on my mind). We'll see how the week goes...

Enjoy your day!

*I'll be sure to tell you more of what I think of Bittman's book after I finish it.